Falling and Flying
by whatkindofnameisvolta
Summary: (pre-Pythacarus) The coffee shop AU none of you asked for. Icarus is distracted at work and Daedalus is intrigued to find out why. Mainly Daedalus point of view. Fluff.


**I am not over the final yet. I'm not sure I ever will be.**

 **Here's the coffee shop AU that none of you asked for.**

 **Also I have very little experience with coffee shops unless extremely sleep deprived so correct me if any of this is technically wrong.**

 **Oh, by the way, this is pure fluff. Like complete candyfloss.**

Daedalus sighed as he hit their second best coffee maker with his broad hand, it sputtered pathetically. He had asked Icarus to mend it yesterday but obviously the boy had forgotten. He did love his son, but sometimes wondered where the young man got his day-dreaming from. It certainly wasn't from Daedalus, who liked to think he was rather practical in his imaginings. He wondered what else had been broken, during his son's week of going solo that he hadn't noticed yet, whilst Daedalus had laid in bed with a crippling bought of flu.

This would be the end of his first weekend back.

Monday.

He sighed, it wasn't as if Icarus wasn't capable of mending the machine either. He'd shown him how.

Customers drifted in and out of Daedalus and Son coffee shop for the duration of the morning and Daedalus spent most of his time at the register serving coffee and his newest recipes from his sweet display whilst Icarus struggled with the coffee machine behind him. It was true that Icarus was better at the register, and with the customers, but Daedalus knew that he wouldn't live forever. One day Icarus would _have_ to learn how to deal with that infernal thing and it was better now, under Daedalus' careful eye, than alone.

The boy would be so much more capable at the job if he didn't jump and crane his neck every time the bell rang, signifying the opening of the door and the arrival of a new customer.

Five in the afternoon signified the rush of university students, either fresh from class or just heading out to pull an all-nighter in the library. Daedalus almost gave up and switched places with Icarus, just to stop the continuing CLANG noise every time the spanner hit the floor from the ringing of the bells.

Eventually Daedalus learned the cause of Icarus', hopefully temporary, leave from his senses. It was five thirty when the group of students, most of them Icarus' age, one older, entered the shop. There were five of them and four of them went to find a table whilst the tall blond made his way towards the counter.

Suddenly Icarus was at his father's elbow.

"I'll take this one, father," at Icarus' beseeching stare Daedalus harrumphed and moved aside, maybe he would check up on whatever Icarus had done to the coffee machine. He was not surreptitiously watching Icarus and this stranger out of the corner of his eye.

They spoke and Daedalus watched as his son's face lit up as they spoke. The man ordered for him and his friends and Icarus filled the order with the same efficiency that he dealt every other customer, but this time with an extra spring in his step.

The man smiled at Icarus, both of them staring into each other's eyes and Daedalus could swear the world froze around them as he watched his son fall in love. It was the bell clanging that knocked them both out of their little world and they turned to conversation again.

Daedalus went back the coffee machine, intending to give his son some privacy, but failed as he heard himself referred to.

"…yes, he's much better now. I think he's mending the coffee machine. You were right about it breaking…" Icarus noticed his father's interest in the conversation, "Father, this is Pythagoras. A loyal customer."

"Ah, yes. Pleased to meet you," Daedalus and Pythagoras shook hands over the counter.

"Yes, well this is the best coffee on campus," if that was the reason Pythagoras kept coming back to this coffee shop then Daedalus was Poseidon, Daedalus thought as he smiled at the compliment.

There was a cough from behind Pythagoras, a queue had formed.

"Well, I'll be back. Same time tomorrow, Icarus," Pythagoras balanced his tray and smiled shyly at Icarus as he made his way over to his friends at their table.

"Yes, tomorrow. I'll remember." Icarus smile threatened to bubble over it was so overcome with joy as he watched Pythagoras walk away.

Daedalus served the next customer whilst Icarus established himself by the coffee machine again, only emerging when Pythagoras and his friends left just before closing time.

It was Icarus who flipped the sign on the door to 'closed'. Daedalus wiped down the counter.

"Have you asked him for his phone number yet?"

Icarus practically jumped out of his shoes, "What?"

"Pythagoras?"

"I'm sure he wouldn't… not me…" at Daedalus' raised eyebrow Icarus practically gushed, "… he say's so many interesting things, he predicted the coffee machine breaking and he's ever so good at maths. He's got Stargazing Live on box set-"

"-is that the show you spent last month watching?"

"Yes, and he understands it!"

"So why don't you? Ask him out. Go to the planetarium or something, or grab a blanket and drive to a field at night and do something like that. When I was young that was considered quite romantic."

"But…but what if he say's no?"

"Then you move on, but I don't think he will."

"Really?" And Icarus looked so young, despite his moustache and height, that Daedalus held his arms out for a hug, which Icarus accepted.

"Really," Daedalus said into Icarus' hair.

"No I daren't, Hercules," Pythagoras said as his friend bit into a cheese sandwich with truly disgusting gusto.

"Why not?" Thankfully he had waited until swallowing before speaking, thus saving Pythagoras' geometry textbook from being sprayed with cheddar.

"Because look at me, I'm not really that interesting am I Hercules?"

"Well, I wouldn't say that, maybe reign in the triangles on the first date. That's definitely third date material, wouldn't you say Medusa?"

"Oh shush, I think he likes _you_ for _you_ Pythagoras, just be yourself and it'll be fine," she patted his shoulder and Pythagoras felt slightly reassured.

"So you really think I should ask him?"

It was with bated breath that Daedalus watched from the coffee maker, which had worked this morning but had packed it in at lunchtime. It was five fifteen and he could feel the nerves rolling off of his son like the waves washing against a beach.

"It'll be fine, don't worry about it," he said, attempting to be reassuring. He had never been good at it, sometimes it felt too much like lying. He couldn't _actually_ see the future no matter how much he had tried, in the last 24hours, to convince his son he could.

The sharp intake of breath from the register told him that Pythagoras had arrived and Daedalus set himself up as being 'busy'.

He watched though, if anything went wrong he wanted to be there to comfort his son after all.

He watched as the man bought his usual coffee, he was only with one friend today, the older guy with the shaved head. He watched as Icarus rang up the two coffees. He watched as both his son and Pythagoras opened their mouths to speak and he watched as they were both rudely interrupted by a gang of rugby player's barging in demanding cans of fizzy drinks, despite their prominent position in their own cabinet right next to the counter.

He watched his son's nerve leave him as quickly as Pythagoras slunk back to his seat, shoulders' hunched. Daedalus quickly took over, pushing Icarus over to the broken coffee machine. Once he had served the entire rugby team he saw Pythagoras leaving, the friend clearing berating him for something and Pythagoras shaking his head.

Desperately hoping that he and the friend were on the same wavelength Daedalus quickly grabbed Icarus by his shaking shoulders and then promptly let go of them quickly in order to wipe the tear tracks from his son's cheeks.

"Go, now. Run after him and ask him, go," Daedalus grasped Icarus' shoulders again and attempted to transfer all of his confidence in his son into Icarus.

Miraculously, Icarus' back straightened and he nodded. Daedalus nodded in return and propelled him out from behind the counter.

He watched as Icarus barrelled out of the door, almost knocking over a tall bald university lecturer in the process.

Daedalus served the lecturer and went back to mending the coffee machine.

It was an hour later when Icarus came back, looking for all the world like he was flying.

"We're going star gazing tomorrow," Icarus said happily.

If Daedalus had been a petty man he'd have said, _I told you so_ , but he wasn't so he hugged his son and set him to work mending the coffee machine.

 **Love? Hate? Let me know.**

 **I'd prefer constructive criticism to downright hate though, let me know how to improve, please?**

 **Thank you**

 **whatkindofnameisvolta**


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